The Japan Times - Paolini through as Swiatek, Alcaraz eye French Open third round

Paolini, last year's runner-up, brushed aside Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-3 to stretch her winning streak to eight matches following her triumph at the Italian Open earlier this month.

"A little bit of ups and downs but I'm happy I won," said the fourth-seeded Paolini, who next plays Russia's Anastasia Potapova or Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva.

Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen punched her ticket to the last 32 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Colombia's Emiliana Arango.

The Chinese star faces another Grand Slam debutant in the next round, 18-year-old Victoria Mboko of Canada.

Meanwhile, Poland's Swiatek is bidding to become the first woman to win four consecutive French Open titles since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.

She arrived in Paris under a slight cloud, having not reached a WTA final since lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen last year.

But the 23-year-old, who has slipped to fifth in the world rankings, opened her campaign with a confident straight-sets win against Rebecca Sramkova.

Next up is an opponent she knows well in Britain's Emma Raducanu, against whom Swiatek has never even lost a set in four previous meetings.

"We know each other's game. For sure I will need to be intense and focus on myself," said Swiatek, who boasts a 36-2 win-loss record at the French Open and also won the title in 2020.

"But for sure, you know, she won the US Open (in 2021). She can play great tennis. I'll be ready."

Raducanu is playing in the tournament for the first time since her debut in 2022 and said she was struggling with illness before her first-round win over Wang Xinyu.

She was thrashed 6-1, 6-0 the last time she met Swiatek in the Australian Open round of 32 in January.

"I think exposure to the top players is great for where I'm at for my development," Raducanu said ahead of the match on Court Philippe Chatrier.

"It's a match where I can go out and test myself and go for my shots, because I know if I just push the ball, I'm probably going to get eaten. I need to hit the ball."

Swiatek's slide down the WTA standings has left her in the same half of the draw as world number one Sabalenka, Paolini and Zheng.

Sabalenka fired a warning sign to her rivals in the first round by dismantling Russian Kamilla Rakhimova for the loss of just one game and will also be expected to make short work of Switzerland's Jil Teichmann in round two.

The Belarusian has never reached the French Open final and is hoping to banish the memories of a painful quarter-final loss to Mirra Andreeva in 2024.

- Alcaraz ready for 'drop-shot battle' -

Reigning men's champion Alcaraz takes on Fabian Marozsan of Hungary for a place in the third round on Chatrier.

After a topsy-turvy start to the year, the four-time Grand Slam winner has hit form on clay, winning both the Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open, as well as reaching the Barcelona Open final.

World number 56 Marozsan does have the memory of a shock clay-court win over Alcaraz -- in Rome two years ago -- to fall back on.

"I study my opponents a little bit. I know that Fabian likes to hit drop shots," said second seed Alcaraz.

"So probably I'll put extra focus on that. I'm going to be ready for that... It's gonna be a drop-shot battle, I guess."

Norwegian seventh seed Casper Ruud, twice a French Open runner-up in 2022 and 2023, goes up against Portugal's Nuno Borges.

Denmark's Holger Rune, the only man to beat Alcaraz on clay this year in the Barcelona final, plays American wild card Emilio Nava.

Lorenzo Musetti, who has reached at least the semi-finals in all three Masters 1000 events on clay in 2025, raced into the third round with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 win over Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan.

Y.Watanabe--JT